Gentle giant (and 8 guitars) set for Steel City

Although Ontario-born folk musician Garnet Rogers is a solo performer, he’s got a lot of company onstage. While he’s the only one actually breathing under the warm spotlight, alongside him are at least eight other family members — his musical family, that is.

As a musician, Rogers is like a Boy Scout as he always comes to his shows fully prepared with not just one guitar — but eight.

An imposing presence at 6-and-a-half feet tall, Rogers’ voice is as smooth and deep as his height.

“I think I’ve shrunk,” he said self-deprecatingly in a recent interview. No doubt, he was referring to his height because his voice is rich as a giant’s.

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If you’ve not heard of his name, it’s not because he’s not good at what he does. In fact, the Boston Globe and Washington Post have hailed him as a “charismatic performer and singer — a brilliant songwriter — one of the major talents of our time …” Some even go as far as “awesome.”

With a deep baritone timbre, Rogers has incredible range. His phrasing encompasses all that is passionate and dramatic with a literate sensibility. His quick-witted, humorous style of performing can bring his audience to laughter one minute and tears the next.

Major labels have come to him over the years to offer him a sit-down over lunch to discuss how to make him a star. Rogers’ reply has always been the same.

“I’m not interested,” he has repeatedly told the “suits” who’ve tried to woo him. “My parents and I have been running a record company (Snow Goose) for so long.… I get to do (what he loves) without having to put up with bottom-feeders and middlemen. It’s enabled me to do the work I’ve wanted to.”

With his choice not to compromise his artistic integrity and maintain his own classically folksy-pop style, Rogers began his working career early alongside his older brother, Stan, while still a teen in the ’70s and ’80s, and together they became a popular and influential musical duo.

After many a night listening to the Grand Ol’ Opry on an old floor-model radio with his ukulele in hand while harmonizing with Stan, Rogers taught himself to play several instruments, including the flute, violin and guitar.

From 1973 to 1983, he and Stan toured together throughout North America. After Stan died in a tragic plane accident in 1983, Rogers went solo.

“Sadly, his popularity didn’t take off until after he was gone,” said Rogers of his brother.

Rogers fondly recalls the times with Stan when they toured “bear pits” and were chased by police “all in the name of folk music,” he mused. Over the years, he’s been featured on numerous TV and radio shows, such as “All Things Considered,” “Much Music” and “Mountain Stage.”

He’s shared the stage with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Guy Clark and Billy Bragg among countless others, at such venues as Wolf Trap, Lincoln Center and Art Park. His CD “At a High Window” (1994) received a Juno nomination, and he received the Helen Verger Award for folk music in 2000.

When it comes to performing, the unpretentious Rogers says, “I always feel it’s about the audience — and community.” And he maintains a deep respect for the crowds who come out to his shows, treating them as more than just strangers by hanging with them even before he steps onstage.

As much as his audience will find him awesomely handsome or funny or just plain riveting, Rogers claims that at the end of the day, the pleasure is all his.

Come out to see this gentle giant and his eight guitars, or come for dinner (begins at 6 p.m.) and the show. Either way, you’ll be filled with an awesome experience.